Meal Plan Monday!

Hey y'all - hope everyone had a great weekend! I know we sure did. It was so gorgeous outside! Saturday we enjoyed doing a whole lot of nothing (I didn't get any house work done) then we went to dinner and to our 1st hockey game with some good friends. We had a blast! It was so intense, I loved it! Apparently the team in our area is #1 in their conference. If you want to find out more about them, you can check them out here. I don't know the first thing about hockey, but I thought that was pretty neat.  Sunday we went to church then out for lunch afterward at one of our favorite places, Cock of the Walk.  Best.Coleslaw.Ever.  Sunday nights we typically have dinner with my parents.  So, I did my weekly grocery shopping at my favorite place, Publix, then came home and made a buttermilk chocolate cake.  It will make you want to slap your grandma it's-so-good.  I've had a lot of requests for the recipe over the past few months so here ya go!  The icing can be a bit tricky and just an FYI, this is not a cake to make when it's very humid or raining outside.  The icing will not set and you'll have a big mess!  Trust me, I learned the hard way.



Carrie's Buttermilk Chocolate Cake 
INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE:
*1 cup of strong coffee
*2 sticks Parkay margarine
*1/4 cup cocoa
*2 cups sugar
*2 cups all-purpose flour
*1 tsp. baking soda
*1/2 tsp. salt
*2 large or jumbo eggs
*1/2 cup buttermilk
*1 tbsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS FOR CAKE:
1.  Preheat over to 350°.
2.  Bring coffee, Parkay and cocoa to a boil in a small sauce pan.
3.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, sift the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt.
4.  Break 2 eggs into a 1 cup measuring cup.  Beat slightly and add buttermilk to 1 cup marker.
5.  Add vanilla to the buttermilk mixture. 
6.  Pour the butter/cocoa/coffee mixture into the flour mixture and whisk vigorously
7.  Pour in the buttermilk mixture and mix well until combined.
8.  Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans.
9.  Bake 25-30 minutes and let cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting.

INGREDIENTS FOR ICING:
*1 box confectioner's sugar
*1 stick Parkay
*1/4 cup cocoa
*1/3 cup buttermilk
*1 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS FOR ICING:
1.  Sift one 16 oz. box of confectioner's sugar.
2.  Melt stick of Parkay is a medium saucepan over low heat.  (DO NOT let it boil.)  When Parkay is completely melted, add cocoa and buttermilk.
3.  Add the box of sugar slowly, stirring until it's completely melted.  Make sure you keep the frosting at a very low heat.  If the sugar is not dissolving, you can turn it up a little.
4.  Add the vanilla and immediately remove from heat.  Frost the cake right away.

Here's a picture of the one I made last night.  It's not "pretty" because it was just going to mom & dad's.  You don't have to worry about presentation with this cake anyways, it's so good no one will even notice.  If you decide to make it, please let me know how you like it!  It is a total hit with my family.  They request it anytime a desert needs to be made.  I brought it over to my parents' house for Christmas Eve and it was literally devoured in 5 minutes, no exaggerating.   Half of it was eaten last night after supper.  It's sinfully good!

This wouldn't be "Meal Plan Monday" without my meal plan for the week so here it goes:

Monday: Eat Clean Meatloaf with mashed potatoes & steamed brocoli.  I got this recipe from here.
Tuesday: Tomato Basil Baked Chicken, steamed asparagus & my squash mixture* (SO delish!)
Wesnesday: Pork roast, cooked carrots, steamed brocoli
Thursday: Blackened fish of some sort (probably Amberjack since we had salmon last week), baked sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus
Friday: Baked pork chops & squash mixture*

*Squash mixture:  I start off by sautéing minced garlic and onions in about a tbsp of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for those of you who don't know ;)).  Next, I add sliced and diced zucchini and squash (any kind, I typically use yellow squash and zucchini but you can use anything), add seat salt and pepper, and cook on med/high heat for about 7 minutes or until slightly browned on one side and softened.  I then slice and dice a tomato and add it to the mixture.  (Add extra EVOO if needed).  Cook down for about 2 minutes and add balsamic vinegar, about 2 tbsps.  Add more sea salt and pepper to taste.  Super easy, delicious and a healthy substitute for starchy sides!

I'm starting week 2 of P90X, one down, 11 to go ;)  Gotta get ready for summer time!  Hope everyone has a blessed day...